Introduction
by XxShadowBabyxX
Summary: The Marauders meet and introductions are stalled on the Hogwarts Express. Remus promised he wouldn't make any friends... but perhaps he should have an exception.


**Introduction**

Hogwarts.

He couldn't believe that he was actually going to Hogwarts, the famous school for witchcraft and wizardry. Remus didn't think that he would ever be able to attend such a magnificent school due to his terrible secret. But no... Dumbledore was a kind, wonderful man who accepted him despite his... unique situation, and because of this, he was able to go to Hogwarts just like any normal eleven year old who had magical abilities such as himself.

Remus had promised himself that he would not make any mates at Hogwarts. He was there to be educated and to learn, and if he were to make mates (the thought made him laugh; as if he could even try) they would definitely become suspicious of his monthly disappearances. The last thing he needed were people finding out he was werewolf... It was bad enough that he and his parents were practically disowned by the rest of their family when they didn't immediately throw Remus out after he became a monster; he didn't need people at school knowing. He didn't want to be thrown out...

"Remember, dear, the fifth," a worried voice spoke up from behind Remus, making him turn around with a nervous smile. His mother, Hope Lupin, was one of the best things that could have ever happened to him. She was a Muggle, but she accepted him even after he became a creature of darkness. "I don't want you forgetting..."

"Yes, Mum, I know." Remus let Hope take his hand and squeeze it reassuringly. "I've only spent the last few weeks memorizing all the dates for this school year."

Lyall Lupin, Remus's father, clapped a hand on his son's good shoulder. Yet another miracle that happened to Remus. Lyall was an expert and fairly well-known for his knowledge on Non-Human Spiritous Apparitions. He studied creatures such as Boggarts and poltergeists, which made him rather used to strange things in the wizarding world. He was just as accepting of Remus as his wife was, perhaps even more so.

"You're going to do just fine," Lyall smiled down at his son, ruffling his sandy brown hair, much like his own. "Try not to give McGonagall too much trouble, alright? And don't even think about worrying about catching up on work during those days," he said with a small warning tone, but it was lighthearted. Remus should have fun at Hogwarts, not always be doing work.

Remus hugged Lyall tightly, his head barely reaching the middle of Lyall's chest. "I'll miss you," came his muffled response, giving no acknowledgement of Lyall's teasing warning.

Lyall held Remus against him for as long as he dubbed acceptable, ruffling Remus's hair once more. "I'll miss you, too, Remus," he sighed. Already off to Hogwarts... damn, how time flew.

Hope pulled Remus over to her next, smothering his face in kisses and hugging him tightly. "Oh, baby, I'll make sure to write to you every week!" the corners of her eyes were wet with tears as she gave him one last hug. "We love you, Remus; make sure to have fun!"

Unlike the usual adolescent boy who was blush and fight against the hugs and kisses, Remus instead embraced it. He loved his parents so much, and he knew they loved and accepted him, so why would he even try and fight against them?

"I love you, too." Remus smiled at the both of them and grabbed the handle of his luggage. "I'll see you winter break, alright?" he wonder if they... if he would last that long without seeing each other.

"Of course, dear," Hope gave one last kiss to Remus's cheek before sending him off. "Now hurry up, the trains are leaving soon!"

Remus quickly rushed to the trains and with a final wave to his parents, he clambered onto the Hogwarts Express, pulling his luggage up sloppily. It was rather heavy, after all.

The train blew its whistle and started chugging along, a couple seventh years jumping on at the last minute, whooping and calling out excitedly as they waved goodbye to their parents.

"Here I can help you with that," a friendly voice said to Remus, startling him slightly. He glanced up at the other boy, who lifted up his luggage and placed it up high in the compartment where a couple other bags were. "Name's Frank Longbottom, third year." he held out his hand with a smile.

Remus stared at the hand, then up at Frank, then at his luggage, then back at his hand once more. "I... R-Remus Lupin," he hesitantly took Frank's hand, shaking it lightly. "First year." Did everyone introduce themselves with what year they were in? Rather strange... "Um, do you know where I can find a car to sit?"

As if on cue, a car door slammed open angrily and a boy and girl walked out, the redheaded girl looking furious. Remus stared at the car apprehensively, but he supposed it was good enough. "Ah... nevermind then." he glanced up at Frank quickly. "Thanks for um... yeah, the luggage."

Frank chuckled and clapped a hand on Remus's shoulder, making him cringe. "No problem! I love helpin' out the ickle firsties!" he playfully patted Remus's cheek with a wide grin and waved him off. "Maybe I'll see ya around!" with those parting words, he strolled off to another car.

Remus stared at him, rubbing his cheek a bit and hesitantly opening the car door that the two walked out of. There were two other boys in the car, and they both glanced up at him as he entered, making him squirm anxiously. "Um... can I sit here?" he asked meekly.

The one with messy, black hair and glasses grinned widely and threw his arms out, nearly whacking the other boy in the face. "Welcome! That you can, kind sir!"

"Oi! Watch where you're throwing those things!" the other boy made a face at glasses-boy and jabbed an elbow at him.

Glasses-boy cackled lightly and stood up, extending a hand for Remus to take. "Potter. James Potter," he grinned. "First year and soon-to-be Gryffindor."

Remus glanced down at the hand and reluctantly took it, dropping his hand almost as soon as he raised it. Potter was a pure-blood last name, right? "Y-yeah, same," he said distractedly, shifting around and sitting opposite of the two. "I'm not sure about house, though..."

"As long as you don't end up in Slytherin, we should be fine. Name's Sirius," the boy paused. "Uh... Sirius Black."

Black... Lyall had told Remus about the Black family. They were as pure-blooded and old-fashioned as could be. He should probably stay away from Sirius; who knew what he would do if he found out... He wasn't too sure about the name Potter, though. They were blood-traitors, he thought?

"P-pleasure, I'm sure." Remus murmured, pulling his legs up to hold them against his chest, looking out the window. If he ignored them, then perhaps they would leave him alone. They seemed friendly, but the other two first years that stormed out must have been angry with them. They must have done something wrong... Remus did not want to spend his time being with people who were cruel enough to kick someone out of the cart.

"Well, aren't you going to give us your na-" James started, but was cut off as their car door slammed open, a boy scurrying inside.

He looked startled to find other people and squirmed anxiously. The boy was a bit pudgy and short, his hair a rat's nest and his teeth a bit crooked. "U-um... can I sit here?" he glanced out the window of the car door nervously. "I... t-there's some upperclassmen chasing me, and I-" he let out a terrified squeak and dashed over next to Remus as the car door opened again.

A tall boy with long platinum blond hair strolled in, a prefect badge glinting on his chest. He sneered down at the four first-years, catching Sirius's eye. A small smile crept up on to his face and he leaned over the Black heir. "Well if it isn't Sirius Black~" he chuckled. "I'd forgotten that you were a first-year already. Are you prepared to become a Slytherin and for once make the Black name proud?" he side-eyed James carefully, before glancing over at Peter. "You can start with a few hexes on the half-blood."

Sirius scowled, standing up to get up in the taller's face. "Do you really think I care if I'm a Slytherin or not? Like I wanna associate with a buncha slimy gits like you," he spat angrily. "Get out of my car, _Lucius_. I'm sure Cissy is waiting for you to stop terrorizing first years."

The prefect, 'Lucius', sneered in response and held his wand underneath Sirius's chin. "Be careful what you say to me, mutt. I have close ties with your mother..." With that parted warning, he dropped his wand from Sirius's face and exited the car.

"Yeah, you can't even fight your own battles!" Sirius shouted back against better judgement. He couldn't just let Malfoy have the last word like that! "Always running off to have someone else do the damage; no wonder you were placed in Slytherin! You're a slimy coward, that's why!"

Lucius turned around, a irritated look on his face. Within seconds, his wand was and a spell on the tip of his tongue; he's had enough of this snarky brat! " _Petrificus totalus_!"

" _Protego_!"

There was a flash of as the spell hit a shield, making Sirius stumble back in shock. Who-? He wasn't the one that threw up the shield spell! He glanced between the other three boys, bewildered, and he managed to catch sight of the sandy-haired boy hastily putting his wand back under his robes.

Lucius let out an annoyed growl and stormed off. Oh he would definitely get back at that disgrace of a Black, but now was not the time... On a train was not preferable; he would wait until they arrived at Hogwarts.

Once Lucius was gone, Sirius turned to the boy across from him with an incredulous look. "Bloody hell, that was amazing!" he said in awe. "I don't even know what the hell your name is, and you still stopped that git from cursing me!"

"It... it was just the full body bind..." Remus said, rather startled by the praise. "A simple shielding charm was nothing..."

"But you're a first year!" the boy who was chased into the car earlier exclaimed, staring at Remus with a look of praise and appreciation. "I... I don't even know what year we're supposed to learn that! Fourth maybe? It's an advanced spell!"

"W-well I..." Remus awkwardly fumbled for words, looking rather flustered at being the center of attention. Even if it was only three other people looking at him. "I have a lot of time on my hands?"

"Well so do I, but _bloody hell_..." James breathed out, a wide grin on his face. "With that kind of bravery, you must be a Gryffindor!"

Remus pulled his knees back up to his chest, ears and cheeks warm. "T-thanks, I think..." he muttered, looking out the window again.

"... you saved me from being full-body binded." Sirius stated gleefully. "I don't know your name even, you git! I'm gonna have to start calling you my guardian angel if you don't tell me, you know!"

The werewolf insistently refused to respond to Sirius, squirming nervously. He wouldn't tell him his name; he wouldn't tell him his name. Names meant... Okay, so he wasn't entirely sure what it meant, but he had a sinking idea that if he told the other boys his name, then it would just bring them closer. He wouldn't make friends at Hogwarts.

Seeing that the other boy was nowhere near close to cracking, the chubby boy spoke up, "My name's Peter Pettigrew; I'm a first year."

"James Potter, first year," the glasses-clad boy proclaimed with a wide grin.

"Sirius Black, first year as well," Sirius grinned. Three introductions down. One to go. "C'mooon Guardian Angel, your turn~ You scared we might not like your name or something?"

James snorted in amusement, running his fingers through his ebony hair. "C'mon it can't be as bad as Sirius," he teased. "Or does your family have a tradition of naming their children after stars as well?"

Sirius made a face, wrapping an arm around James's neck and tugging him down to give him a noogie. As if his hair wasn't messy enough already. "Oi, Sirius isn't that bad! Better than _Lucius_ ," he stated, voice dripping with venom. Really? Who in their right mind would name their child Lucius? Then again, the Malfoys certainly weren't right in the mind...

"..." Remus kept his gaze away, fixing his robes uselessly. He'd gotten robes two sizes bigger than needed, so that he could have a pair of robes that 'fit' him for at least three to four years. His family wasn't particularly... wealthy.

"Naaaame," Sirius groaned, growing rather tired of the amber-eyed boy's silence and refusal to answer their question. "C'mon, we're in the same year anyways; might as well know your name now, yeah?"

"... Remus Lupin," the werewolf muttered, keeping his gaze out the window. He inwardly cringed at his words, at how easily he cracked. Oh dear Merlin, what did he just sign himself up for... With those two words, it felt as though he were signing a contract. A contract that sealed him with the other boys for a _long_ time. He wasn't too sure how he felt about that...

"You mean from that Roman myth about the two guys being raised by wolves?" Peter piped up, looking over at Remus curiously. He flushed slightly at James and Sirius's strange looks. "I-I went to a Muggle primary school; we went over mythology. The story of Remus and Romulus is quite famous..."

"Never heard of it," James said bluntly, before giving a sly grin over to Remus. "Buut... does this mean we know someone who was raised by wolves?"

Remus snorted lightly with an eyeroll, a trickle of sweat appearing on his forehead. Wolves... he didn't like talking about wolves too much. "Yeah, sure," he said dryly. "Good luck finding someone who would believe you, though."

" _I_ believe you, Potter!" Sirius cried out, tackling James onto the ground of the car. "You would never lie about such a thing!"

" _Oof-!_ G-get offa me, Black!" James shouted, rather startled by the sudden attack. He swore he broke something from that tackle!

Peter looked between the two purebloods, rather bewildered. They had just met each other not that long ago, and they were already acting as though they'd been best friends since birth! Perhaps it was a pureblood thing...?

The small squabble ended with James sitting triumphantly on Sirius's back. "Ha! And that's what happens when you mess with a Potter!" he bragged, ruffling up Sirius's hair.

"What, I get pinned to the ground of the Hogwarts Express?" Sirius grumbled, half-heartedly swatting at James's hand. "Prat."

Peter grinned in amusement down at the two, glancing over at the boy dubbed 'Remus'. He seemed to be having the same thoughts as himself; these two boys are idiots. Complete and utter prats. The lot of them.

Remus looked out the window once more, a thin smile on his face. He sighed softly, resting chin on his hand. He wasn't entirely sure how he felt right now... He was sure that the other boys were great blokes and all, but he was hesitant. Did this qualify as friends? He promised himself not to make any friends. There was a sinking feeling in his chest, as if he knew that he would be with these boys for a long time, but he still couldn't stop that flicker of hope appear. Maybe friends wouldn't be... _too_ bad...

"Well, now that all the introductions are out of the way!" James said cheerfully, adjusting his glasses as he got off of Sirius. "How about a game of Exploding Snap, huh? First person to get their eyebrows blown off loses!"


End file.
